Good hobbies for ERAS

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Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine
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deleted1095841

How important are hobbies on the residency interview trail?
Any unique/interesting ones you all have come across?
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Not really about what it is but what you do with it. "Running" is much more interesting if you ran the Boston Marathon rather than just running around the block of your neighborhood for 20 minutes a few times a week.
 
Pretty much anything is fine so long as it’s true. I always turn to this section right before an interview to look for conversation starters and I’m sure others do too, so make sure whatever is there is legit. You’ll inevitably meet people that share whatever you list and they will be excited to talk to you about it.

As noted above, it’s even better if you have other accomplishments attached to your hobbies, but not essential. Even if you haven’t done the Boston marathon, if you’re really a runner such that running is something you do often for fun, you’ve likely entered some kind of 5 or 10k and other runners will want to talk shop with you.

Do beware of any weird hobbies. I remember an applicant who put down perfume collecting and was also kind of weird in person when talking about it. If you have a really weird hobby, solicit some feedback before listing it.
 
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I agree, this isn't really important in and of itself so much as these will be conversation starters in your interviews. It will help your interviewer get to know a little more about you as a person and assess if you're the kind of person who will fit in personality-wise with the program. The "what" almost literally doesn't matter, as long as you're able to have a relaxed and coherent conversation about something nonmedical. So you should put something that is true and that you would actively like to talk about in an interview setting.

If you choose not to put anything, that is fine, but then you should be prepared for the "So tell me what you like to do outside of medical school" question.
 
Hobbies can create a point of conversation and thus can give a more favorable subjective impression. They are not absolutely important, but can help of course. I think the best lists I see are ones that list fairly common things so an interviewer can find a common ground, but also list one or two that are very unique. For the unique ones, I will often ask questions. If the interviewee can passionately talk about the hobby, it usually leaves at least a partially favorable impression on me.
 
Just a student, but after reading a few of my peers applications, I think the way you talk about it matters way more than what you put.

Putting "I like to hike bc nature helps my mental clarity and I strive for physical fitness" is super drab and everyone does that, but if you put in something a little more creative like "I really enjoy backbacking bc I've met super interesting people and got to experience many different cultures, like the time I visited Nepal and...."

Same geoes for interesting hobbies like making soap or starting a fight club.
 
PathNeuroIMorFM said:
Just a student, but after reading a few of my peers applications, I think the way you talk about it matters way more than what you put.

Putting "I like to hike bc nature helps my mental clarity and I strive for physical fitness" is super drab and everyone does that, but if you put in something a little more creative like "I really enjoy backbacking bc I've met super interesting people and got to experience many different cultures, like the time I visited Nepal and...."

Same geoes for interesting hobbies like making soap or starting a fight club.
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Hard disagree. Unless you've legit done something super interesting, won an award for your hobby, or the hobby is obscure enough that it really needs an explanation, I much prefer single word descriptions of hobbies. If someone writes a paragraph to tell me they like to run, I TLDR right out of that.
 
GoSpursGo said:
Hard disagree. Unless you've legit done something super interesting, won an award for your hobby, or the hobby is obscure enough that it really needs an explanation, I much prefer single word descriptions of hobbies. If someone writes a paragraph to tell me they like to run, I TLDR right out of that.
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Truth... even for AMCAS and other prehealth applications. Leave the selling for in-person.

About selling: if you can say you have sold your creations at fairs or online, tell us.

Influencer is not really a hobby.
 
Whatever it is, don’t make it up. Put archery on mine. Spent an entire interview just talking about recurves and long bows. That and another interview where I was asked if I would eat human flesh to survive are the only two interviews I remember out of probably like 40-50.
 
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Tenk said:
Whatever it is, don’t make it up. Put archery on mine. Spent an entire interview just talking about recurves and long bows. That and another interview where I was asked if I would eat human flesh to survive are the only two interviews I remember out of probably like 40-50.
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So, would you?
 
Interesting hobbies I have seen listed (not just in my specialty) included making watches, metalworking (multiple people), keeping bees, competitive bodybuilding, horse dressage, making mead, and mountaineering.

It turns out people who have weird hobbies are often also weird people.

PathNeuroIMorFM said:
Just a student, but after reading a few of my peers applications, I think the way you talk about it matters way more than what you put.

Putting "I like to hike bc nature helps my mental clarity and I strive for physical fitness" is super drab and everyone does that, but if you put in something a little more creative like "I really enjoy backbacking bc I've met super interesting people and got to experience many different cultures, like the time I visited Nepal and...."
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Both of these statements are awful. "Hiking" will suffice. "Hard selling" us on your hobbies is a yellow flag. It is insulting to think that a residency program would be more likely to select someone because of specific hobbies they have.

As noted above, being an "influencer" is not a hobby (people do list this) and you should be extremely cautious about listing anything that can be interpreted as having a political "side," regardless of what it is.

Red flag hobbies I have heard of:
-Activist for far-out guns rights organization, big issue was getting doctors approved to open carry in hospital
-Nazi memorabilia collector - didn't list it but let it slip in an interview, which then got around
-Medical school "side hustle" where as medical students they provide medical advice to members of their community, and charge for it (multiple people)
 
Captain_Falcon said:
So, would you?
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It was a scenario of a downed plane and dead bodies. No other food source. I thought about it for a second and said well if I were dead and someone could live on my flesh, I’d have no problem with them eating me since it would keep them alive, so sure. He liked my answer.
 
mrbreakfast said:
Interesting hobbies I have seen listed (not just in my specialty) included making watches, metalworking (multiple people), keeping bees, competitive bodybuilding, horse dressage, making mead, and mountaineering.

It turns out people who have weird hobbies are often also weird people.


Both of these statements are awful. "Hiking" will suffice. "Hard selling" us on your hobbies is a yellow flag. It is insulting to think that a residency program would be more likely to select someone because of specific hobbies they have.

As noted above, being an "influencer" is not a hobby (people do list this) and you should be extremely cautious about listing anything that can be interpreted as having a political "side," regardless of what it is.

Red flag hobbies I have heard of:
-Activist for far-out guns rights organization, big issue was getting doctors approved to open carry in hospital
-Nazi memorabilia collector - didn't list it but let it slip in an interview, which then got around
-Medical school "side hustle" where as medical students they provide medical advice to members of their community, and charge for it (multiple people)
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Maybe a bad example I put, but the number of times I've seen reading, cooking, and running as hobbies... Not saying everyone likes to do those, but it's just kind of generic.

Kind of funny for the influencer thing. Worked out really well for the Anking guy, who matched derm, but I've read about at least 2 other med influencers who didn't match derm. They were more "med lifestyle" people who did things like "day in the life", whereas the Anking guy just made straightforward educational content.
 
PathNeuroIMorFM said:
Maybe a bad example I put, but the number of times I've seen reading, cooking, and running as hobbies... Not saying everyone likes to do those, but it's just kind of generic.
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And that's fine! Not everything has to be super unique--the point is to just paint a picture of who you are outside of medicine. In fact, it may be more likely that super generic hobbies will overlap with your interviewers. Just put something honest.
PathNeuroIMorFM said:
Kind of funny for the influencer thing. Worked out really well for the Anking guy, who matched derm, but I've read about at least 2 other med influencers who didn't match derm. They were more "med lifestyle" people who did things like "day in the life", whereas the Anking guy just made straightforward educational content.
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This sort of belies the "influencer" thing, because it CAN be cool if you are actually good at it and make useful content. The problem is that 99% of people who try don't actually have anything useful or interesting to say, so it's really just a vanity project.
 
PathNeuroIMorFM said:
Maybe a bad example I put, but the number of times I've seen reading, cooking, and running as hobbies... Not saying everyone likes to do those, but it's just kind of generic.
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The thing is, those are hobbies you can do with your peers, do anywhere, and do within the time confines of residency. I don't really care if an applicant likes to go surfing or skiing, but you certainly aren't doing those very often in residency, at least not at our program. For example, we had an applicant who enjoyed big game hunting and was interested in wilderness medicine. That is very cool, but I don't really have anything to talk to them about, and this program is in a big city, so...

On the other hand, (in honor of it being the start of the NFL season today) fantasy football is about the most "generic" hobby your can have, but at our hospital, essentially every residency program has a fantasy football league, some of which involve fellows/attendings. It's not going to wow anyone, but physicians are humans too, not medical robots.

PathNeuroIMorFM said:
Kind of funny for the influencer thing. Worked out really well for the Anking guy, who matched derm, but I've read about at least 2 other med influencers who didn't match derm. They were more "med lifestyle" people who did things like "day in the life", whereas the Anking guy just made straightforward educational content.
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In my experience having a "medical instagram/twitter" has, on average, a correlation with poorer performance in residency. It's not a strong or dramatic association, but includes people who focus on educational content. I have no idea why this is, in part because residents who have popular non-medical instagrams seem to do fine; I think it's because the latter can separate work/life well and focus on both, while the former are looking for content when they should be doing work. Might just be me, though.
 
mrbreakfast said:
In my experience having a "medical instagram/twitter" has, on average, a correlation with poorer performance in residency. It's not a strong or dramatic association, but includes people who focus on educational content. I have no idea why this is, in part because residents who have popular non-medical instagrams seem to do fine; I think it's because the latter can separate work/life well and focus on both, while the former are looking for content when they should be doing work. Might just be me, though.
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Well... n=1: Divine quit residency... (and yes, we don't know the reason blah blah blah maybe it was not 2/2 performance etc.).
 
The hobbies section is the perfect example of Med Ed people pontificating about irrelevance and nonsense.

Just because you write Harry Potter fan fiction doesn’t mean you’re a good doctor. What’s more, your patients don’t give AF if you paint anime figures on rocks you find.

So write “cooking, reading, spending time with family/friends” and move on from that nonsense.
 
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EmbryonalCarcinoma said:
Some people have recommended using an experience slot to describe hobbies. I have heard varied opinions on this, though.
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EmbryonalCarcinoma said:
Some people have recommended using an experience slot to describe hobbies. I have heard varied opinions on this, though.
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I think you *can* do this, but you need to decide whether it's really worth it. This probably depends on how cool your hobby is/how accomplished you are at it and how lame your 10th most important experience is.

I would wager that for most people the correct answer is to not do this and just let your interviewer ask you "so what do you like to do outside of medical school?"
 
GoSpursGo said:
I think you *can* do this, but you need to decide whether it's really worth it. This probably depends on how cool your hobby is/how accomplished you are at it and how lame your 10th most important experience is.

I would wager that for most people the correct answer is to not do this and just let your interviewer ask you "so what do you like to do outside of medical school?"
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I’ll just be honest and say that I don’t even have 10 experiences….
 
My advice is to consider if what you list is something the average reader would understand the meaning of. I made up what I felt was a creative term for a pretty significant hobby (and something I had won awards for), and almost no one asked about it. When I brought it up a few times, the general reaction was, "That's actually really interesting. I saw that on your app but didn't know what it was."
 
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